two new releases this weekend with a $42 million hall. halle berry's thriller "the cult" did better than expected with $17 million. steve carell's flopped with just $10 million, one of the worst days ever for the comedian. anderson cooper was honored this weekend and celebrated by planting a big, awkward kiss on madonna. the material girl presented the award to cooper dressed as a boy scout in protest of the organization's ban on gay members. that was clumsy. finally, the "forbes" list of most influential celeb rights is out. steven spielberg, ron howard, and george lucas. the number one went to none other than oprah winfrey. there was a lot of talk about her channel not doing so well at first but it's grown steadily, up. >> she changed the strategy. >> changed a little bit, still big books. we want to tell you about a new addition to the family.

veranda de la cruz gave bird to a beautiful baby boy. veronica tells us she and baby hart are doing just great. "way too early" starts right now. they talk about rebranding the gop. instead of restoring the trust of the american people. we're not here to rebrand the party. we're here to rebuild a country. we're not here to dedicate ourselves to new talking points coming from d.c. we're not here to put a fresh coat of rhetorical paint on our party. we're not here to abandon our principles in a contest of government give-aways. that's a game we will never, ever win. >> sarah palin and the

republican party choose style over substance at this weekend's conclusion to cpac. i'm thomas roberts and this is "way too early." we thank you for being up with us on this monday, march 18th. president obama's first trip to israel, will he be able to mend fences with prime minister benjamin netanyahu? european stocks plunge after a new bailout measure sparks fears of a run on the banks. first we get to the news live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. president obama's renewed push for a grand bargain may be showing some early signs of paying off, at least with one top republican. senator bob corker of tennessee says he could envision raising tax revenue if democrats embrace big changes to medicare and social security. corker's position on sunday puts him at odds with other members of his party including house speaker john boehner who's ruling out the prospect of any new taxes. >> i think there by the way is a chance on a deal. i know the president is saying the right things and we have an opportunity over the next four

to five months. i think republicans, if they saw true entitlement reform, would be glad to look at tax reform that generates additional revenues and that doesn't mean increasing rates, that means closing loopholes. it also means arranging our tax system so that we have economic growth. >> i don't know whether we can come to a big agreement. if we do, it will be between the two parties on capitol hill. the president got his tax hikes on january the 1st. the talk about raising revenue is over. it's time to deal with the spending problem. >> the speaker went on to say he agrees with president obama that the country does not face an immediate debt crisis. still, mr. boehner said without entitlement reform, it's only a matter of time until there's a major fiscal fallout. that economic debate will continue in washington as the president shifts his attention overseas this week. tomorrow he will begin his first presidential trip to israel after a sometimes rocky relationship with one of america's most important allies. this four-day trip will see the

president meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu and visit the grave of the father of modern zionism and travel to the west bank city of ramallah to sit down with palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. a new "washington post"/abc news poll shows 69% of americans think the obama administration should not take a leading role in those negotiations. the president will also focus on iran. according to state tv launched a destroyer in the caspian sea yesterday. israeli leaders are expected to push the president about the white house approach to stopping tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. there's big takeaways from the annual gathering of conservatives known as cpac, including signs that it could be a crowded presidential field in 2016 for a republican party still trying to find its footing. amid a field of 23 potential candidates, senator rands paul narrowly edged out senator marco rubio and over the course of several days dozens of leaders

across the country took the stage there. despite efforts to energize the dialogue turned pointed and public. sarah palin challenged party brass to stop trying to rebrand the gop. she blasted establishment figures for their efforts to only fund candidates they consider viable in a general election. it was a message that drew a quick response from one of the party's top strat gists. >> the last thing we need is washington, d.c. vetting our candidates. if these experts who keep losing elections, keep getting rehired, raking in millions -- if they feel that strongly about who gets to run in this party, then they should buck up or stay in the truck. buck up and run. the architects can head on back to -- [ cheers and applause ]

they can head on back to the great lone star state and put their name on some ballot, though for their sake i hope they give themselves a discount on their consulting services. >> first of all, i live in texas, i don't live in washington. >> yeah, but -- >> second of all -- >> you're a little dirty here now. >> second of all, look, sarah palin should be agreeing with this. she didn't support todd akin. when he said the reprehensible things he said she wisely came out and said he ought to get out of the race. racking in millions, i'm a volunteer. i don't take a dime. i pay my own travel expenses out of my own pocket. i appreciate her encouragement i ought to go home to texas and run for office. i would say this, i don't think i'm a particularly good candidate, sort of a balding fat guy. and second of all, i'd say if i did run for office and win, i'd serve out my term. i wouldn't leave office midterm. >> republican party chair says branding was exactly the problem

for the gop in the last election. >> i believe our party's had a real quality of context problem. what i mean is that we have become a party that parachutes into communities four months before an election and while that's how we operated for years and years, and we've done well as compared to ourselves, in comparison to the other side, the obama campaign lived in these communities for years. the relationships were deep. they were authentic. >> he announced the $10 million plan funded by the rnc that would focus on building permanent footholds in hispanic, african-american and asian communities. he said the party would look at moving up the convention to allow the nominee to begin their presidential campaign even sooner and went on to say he wants fewer debates next presidential election cycle, perhaps seven or eight instead of the 23 to stop the party from cannibalizing itself. as the job market begins to show signs of life, president

obama expected to announce tom perez to be the next secretary of labor. perez currently heads the civil rights division of the justice department. did confirmed he would be the only hispanic member of the cabinet. still, perez could face an uphill battle at his confirmation hearing. republican senators may take issue with his handling of cases the last several years, including his challenges to voter i.d. laws in south carolina and texas. we move on to business. today cypress' parliament will hold an emergency vote to approve bailout terms. it appears the country's law patients would not approve that measure which would result in a loss of much-needed funds. what it means for the rest of europe? we chenlg in with steve sedgwick live in london for us. good morning. >> very good day to you. just when you think europe's getting its act together another crisis comes along. we've had greece, spain, italy, ireland, portugal, now cyprus, the sec-smallest nation wind the european union. what is different about this potential bailout is the original cost is around 18

billion euros for the imf and cb but they want to get the costs down by taxing depositors. this would be the first time this is done. basically anyone who's got money in their account would have a levy before they can get to their money. today is a bank holiday. if you had under 100,000 euros in your account, every penny would have a 6.8% tax on it. if you have over 100,000 euros, a 9.9% tax. it's the first time and it's different we've seen depositors directly being penalized for keeping money in the banks and having to take part in any rescue measures. this is being pushed by the jeff mans and brussels as well but a lot of cypriot companies and investors are up in arms about this one. it's a very big change from previous bailouts across europe. >> certainly makes people want to stuff money in their mattress. russia has a lot of people with their money wrapped up in these cyprus banks. what's the reaction from leaders there? >> this is where it gets really interesting. vladimir putin the president has

said it's unfair, it's unprofessional, and it's dangerous precedent. why are the russians so upset? i'll leave the viewers to think about this. russian corporates and russian funds have over 30 billion euros wrapped up in cyprus funds as well. the burgeoning cyprus financial sector has been driven by russian money which one way or the other has found its way from russia into cyprus as well. many people think this is some form of tax avoidance for russian individuals and corporates and funds but the russians are the biggest stake holders and clearly they would be hit much more than individual cypriot depositors. >> what does this mean for the ripple effect outside the eu and into the american markets? >> well, that's a very important point. the u.s. markets came up just a little bit on the friday session before all this cyprus news came out. we had finished what was the greatest run-up in the dow since 1996. ten straight sessions of gains. a little bit of euphoria in the markets had been coming out a bit. the concern is that this won't be just a cypriot event, it would be something that could

affect deposits in italy and spain. as we know, events in italy and spain which are giants in the european economy can affect the risk appetite globally and that is very tenuous at high levels. >> steve sedgwick, nice to see you, thank you. less than a week into his tenure at the vatican, pope francis has defined himself as a pontiff to the people and something of a challenge to his security detail. the new pope broke protocol and made an impromptus appearance at the side gate of the vatican where he shook hands and kissed babies. pope francis then gave his first prayer to the virgin mary which focused on mercy and forgiveness and drew cheers by closing his remarks with the italian phrase for "have a good lunch." let us know why you're awake. shoot us an a e-mail or tweet me @thomasaroberts. we'll read the best responses later in the show. >> still ahead, brackets are set, march madness here. i want to break down the teams

to watch and surprising names that didn't make the big dance. controversy surrounding the series "the bible." the actor chosen to play the character satan is raising eyebrows. that and a check of weather when we come back. >> the comments were not only wrong but divisive. divisive at a time when we need unity. racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of fundamental problems. [ male announcer ] if your kid can recognize your sneeze from a crowd...

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time now to check weather. bill karins, i was trying to be mediocre with my pitch to you. >> thank you. just talk in rhymes the rest of the show. >> i will try. hit me back and i -- no, i can't. >> yeah. see, that's good. >> i don't know if you heard me try to do the pope thing when i said the pope broke protocol. try to say that fast. >> no. >> yeah, didn't work out. >> i don't do that, i don't play those games. thomas, this march has just been, well, not nice. last march much of the country was so warm and beautiful and great. and this one, we can't shake winter. we've got snow outside of washington, d.c. this morning. we've got a full-fledged snow storm heading for new england tonight. then all day tomorrow. so again in the d.c. area, probably see snowflakes but the road should be okay. temperatures are just warm enough. driving on 80, snow-covered roads. this storm goes back into north dakota, fargo, minneapolis seeing snow. the ohio valley seeing sleet mixed with rain.

here's what's going to happen. the snow really comes into new england tonight after the evening rush hour. so that's good. a lot of us should get home no problem. then the total snow for this event, notice if you're near the coast it's going to be less. mostly going to see snow venturing into icy stuff, possibly rain. interior new england is going to get nailed. boston, providence, 3 to 6. hartford around 5 inches. the mountainous areas, the berkshires, white and green mountains, catskills, 6 to 12 inches of snow easily. that's going to be mostly tonight into tomorrow morning and a little bit as we go throughout tuesday night. the forecast for today, the weather will be going downhill through the day. new england at least you don't have to worry about snow-covered roads. bring your umbrellas. philadelphia, washington, d.c., and by pittsburgh it's going to be a nasty mess too. the northern plains, you also are dealing with that storm now. blizzard conditions in the northern plains. and there are some beautiful spots there in texas. i didn't even mention we have severe weather today also from atlanta to nashville down

through alabama. so a little bit of everything. just kind of a -- last march we were so warm and beautiful. we're just paying the price. >> yeah. mixed bag monday for a lot of people. we take mediocre to horrible hosting as we do sports. >> this is entertaining. >> this will be entertaining. i'm going to try to be better. college basketball, the last of the conference championship games wrapped up on selection sunday. we start in the s.e.c. florida taking on ole miss for the title in nashville. pick it up in the second half. ole miss up by three, marshall henderson gets it off the miss, buries the three-pointer. the faithful there with the gator chomp. final seconds of the game, they intentionally miss the free throw, kick it out to kenny boy ton for the tie but it rims out. rebels win 66-63. we'll get to the brackets, how this affected the gators' tournament season in just a second. first to the big ten for the championship game in chicago. ohio state facing wisconsin. second half, badgers up by one. aaron craft gets the hoop for the lay-up and the foul to give

the buckeyes the lead. 5:30 left, 41-41. craft again splitting the defense, laying it up. buckeyes go up by two. they hang on and get the win 50-43. we go to greensboro. miami facing north carolina for the acc title. beginning of the second half, tied 53-53, james michael throws down the alley-oop. the canes would rally. under two minutes left, miami puts the game away with this three-pointer from trey mckinney jones. 81-73. we'll show you whether it was enough to earn them a number one seed. finally, bcu taking on st. louis in the atlantic ten tournament. second half, bcu down by three, they force the turnover and take it in for the dunk to cut the deficit to one. st. louis was just too much. cody ellis drains the three to give st. louis a six-point lead. they go on to win 62-56. so st. louis plan to watch the ncaa selection at the airport but they ran into traffic so

they settled for watching it at a best buy in new jersey. look, it comes with comedy la-z-boys. don't expect to see defending champion kentucky, they were left out of the big dance. we start in the midwest where louisville claim the top 87 all seed in the tournament. should they win they'll face the winner of the colorado state versus missouri game. in the west, gonzaga got the number one seed but they've got a tough road. they would face the winner of the pitt versus wichita state game in the second round. on the other side of the bracket kansas took the top seed in the south but they have a date with either unc or villanova should they advance to the round of 32. in the east, indiana starts as the top seed. it's second seed miami that has a lot of people talking. they'll face pacific in the opening round. then vegas likes louisville to take the title. indiana's odds aren't far behind. tournament action kicks off tomorrow with the first four

round in dayton, ohio. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," an influential senate republican calls for a 75-year mix in medicare in exchange for additional tax revenue. will it be enough to bring other republicans on board? the "morning joe" crew is going to break it down and discuss. we huddle around the water cooler as sarah palin breaks out some props at the curve stiff conference in washington. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter...

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we told you at the top of the show that president obama will travel to israel to meet with president benjamin netanyahu, president obama's first visit to israel during his tenure in the office. if you want to sound smart, first wait for your sound cue so your mike is open and you can hear me. tell your friends only four of the last 11 presidents, bush, clinton, carter and nixon, visited israel during their presidencies. both nixon and bush waited until their second term to make their trip. so enough with the real news. let's gather round the water cooler with lewis. what have you got for us? >> we've never done this together. >> making tv history right now. >> did you have a good st. patrick's day weekend? >> it was nice, low-key. >> no guinness, no green beer? >> just the shot of the empire state building, green this morning. i forgot to wear green.

what about you? >> i had a great time. >> you're still here early. >> yes. >> looking fresh, ready to go. >> here we go. the first story, the race is on in new york to replace three-term mayor michael bloomberg. there's over a half dozen candidates, even former congressman anthony weiner is exploring a bid. there's interest coming from the west coast, twitter co-founder jack dorsey is thinking about throwing his hat in the ring. the 36-year-old billionaire told "60 minutes" he's serious about moving to new york and running for mayor. >> what i love about new york is just the electricity i feel right away. i mean, just look at us in this station. there's just people walking everywhere. >> chaos. >> it's chaos. it's kind of like being in a car in the middle of a thunderstorm. everything is raging around you but you're safe inside that car. so new york feels very much to me like that. >> he better get rid of that laid-back california attitude that i'm getting from that interview.

i don't know. dorsey spent some time in new york attending nyu when he first came up with the idea for twitter. >> could you imagine if dorsey beat wiener, twitter takes down wiener again. >> i get it. he's also a billionaire, that helps. >> cash is king in this city. history channel's miniseries "the bible" retells the story from the holy book is bringing in a record-breaking audience after last night's episode. everyone's talking about a controversial character that was introduced, though. satan. viewers think he resembles the president. i see a little bit of resemblance. the question is, was the actor cast because he looks like the president or is it just a coincidence in the history channel has not commented. we bring this up because we did report back in the day of a story of the -- of president bush's head on a spike, it looked like president bush, and hbo kind of commented and said

that it was in bad taste and vowed to take it off their dvd. >> i think that guy looks like the emperor from "star wars." >> yeah, i can get that. >> a young emperor. >> i can also see the resemblance there. we'll see how this plays out. i think it could go either way. >> not good for them. >> not good at all, no. but we haven't heard from this person in a while. sarah palin. always giving us something to talk about. she was there at cpac this weekend. she was telling the conservative audience about second amendment rights and of course she pulled out everyone's favorite prop, including my own. >> you should have seen what todd got me for christmas. well, it wasn't that exciting. it's a metal rack, a case for a hunting rifle to put on the back of a four-wheeler. and then though i had to get something for him to put in the gun case, right? so this go-round, he's got the rifle, i got the rack.

oh, bloomberg's not around, our big gulp's safe, we're cool. shoot, it's just pop. with low-cal ice cubes in it. i hope that's okay. >> low-cal it's kooubs? where was the hat, though? >> she stole my idea. she was watching "way too early," she saw the big gulp, she said that was really cool. >> do we have a picture of that? you were lucky. i saw that, you had the soda at the perfect levels not to spill -- >> could have ruin mid suit. bloomberg was actually here the following day. he was very nice to me. you know, he had a good sense of humor about it. >> you might have a future with bloomberg. >> maybe. >> do your thing. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your tweets, texts and e-mails are next. "morning joe" is moments away.

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